The ADEA AADSAS deadline listed for each dental school indicates the date by which the application must be received by ADEA AADSAS. Dental schools will consider for admission those applicants whose ADEA AADSAS applications are received at ADEA AADSAS by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the deadline date.

Once the application is submitted and all documents are received, there is a processing window of four to six weeks that occurs before the application is considered complete by the schools. 

Some dental schools require applicants to send additional information directly to the dental school. This can be (1) information required of all applicants or (2) information required of a subset of applicants as defined by the dental school. In both cases, requests from the dental schools should be fulfilled. Review the Supplemental Materials table on ADEA GoDental, and check with each dental school for more information.  

Send only required documents to ADEA AADSAS. Any other documents received by ADEA AADSAS, including supplemental materials requested by specific dental schools, will be considered unrelated materials. ADEA AADSAS will not return unrelated materials, nor forward the unrelated materials to designated dental schools. Examples of unrelated materials include resumes, photographs, writing samples, certificates and other nonrequired documents.

The application fee for ADEA AADSAS depends on the number of dental schools an applicant applies to. The fee is $251 for the first dental school and $108 for each additional dental school designation. After submitting the application, additional dental schools can be selected and paid for at a later date. Payment for the ADEA AADSAS application is by credit card (VISA, MasterCard, American Express or Discover) only.

Some dental schools request an additional fee (supplemental) after the completed ADEA AADSAS application. Do not send the supplemental fees to ADEA AADSAS. Supplemental fees should be sent directly to the dental school(s).

The Coversheet is not a unique section on the application, but an important summary of all of the information included in the ADEA AADSAS application. It is a one-page document that appears at the beginning of the PDF application and is automatically generated after the application is submitted.

Items included on the coversheet are:

• Biographic Information,
• Selected GPAs,
• Official DAT scores, if they have been received, and Planned DAT date for future tests listed,
  • Self-Reported Canadian DATs, if applicable
• Up to four “most important achievements,” and
• Up to six “most important experiences.”

Your application is considered complete and ready to process when ADEA AADSAS has received:

• Your submitted online ADEA AADSAS application
• Official transcripts from every college and university attended
• ADEA AADSAS processing fee

Once an application is complete (submitted and all transcripts are received), it is put in a queue to be verified. Verification is a process where professional verification staff match manually entered coursework and official transcripts to ensure no errors were made. Verification also allows ADEA AADSAS to calculate grade point averages (GPA) that are standard calculations for all applicants. ADEA AADSAS calculates standardized GPAs to help participating dental schools evaluate applicants using uniform and consistent criteria, regardless of various institutional transcript policies. ADEA AADSAS GPAs will be calculated within four to six weeks after ADEA AADSAS receives the completed application and all transcripts.

To calculate a GPA, ADEA AADSAS calculates total quality points by multiplying semester hours attempted by the value of the verified ADEA AADSAS grade. Quality points are divided by the total number of hours for completed courses. ADEA AADSAS reports GPAs in semester–based 4.0 grading scales.

ADEA AADSAS calculates GPA and reports it in a number of ways:

• BCP GPA: All undergraduate, graduate and cumulative courses identified on transcripts as Biology, Chemistry and Physics.
• Science GPA: All undergraduate, graduate and cumulative courses identified on the transcript as Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Math and Other Science.
• Non–science GPA: All undergraduate, graduate and cumulative courses not used in calculating the Science GPA.
• Undergraduate GPA: All courses for which undergraduate credit is received.
• Graduate GPA: All courses for which graduate credit is received.
• Overall GPA: Includes undergraduate and graduate. For most dental school applicants who have not completed graduate courses, the overall GPA is the same as the undergraduate GPA.
• College/University GPAs: GPAs are reported for each college/university attended.
• The following course types are not included in ADEA AADSAS GPA calculations:
  • Advanced Placement/CLEP.
  • Institutional Department Exam.
  • Audit.
  • International Baccalaureate.
  • Incomplete.
  • Pass/Fail.
  • Withdraw/withdraw passing.
  • Grades of P or Credit.
• ADEA AADSAS includes all initial and repeated coursework in its GPA calculations.
• Grades and credit hours for all failed courses will be included in the ADEA AADSAS GPA, even if they are not included in the GPA calculations of the transcript–issuing institution.
• ADEA AADSAS calculates GPAs in two different ways: with and without + and –. Some dental schools prefer to use the +/– system and others prefer to use grades without + and –. For example, grades without a +/– will simply round—grades with a + will round down to the next letter grade (e.g., B+ [3.3] will round down to a B [3.0]) and grades with a – will round up to the next letter grade (e.g., B– [2.7] will round up to a B [3.0).

Factors that may result in a GPA calculation that is different from the transcript include the following:

1. Many college/universities count only the new grade in repeated course(s) in GPA computation. ADEA AADSAS counts the previously earned grade and the new grade. For example, if the applicant took Introduction to Biology in Fall 2012 and earned a grade of C, then retook the same course in Spring 2013 and earned an A, ADEA AADSAS would use both the C grade and the A grade to calculate the GPA.
2. The college/university's grade weighting scale. Some schools use different scales than those used by ADEA AADSAS. For example, at some schools, a B+ grade equals a grade weight of 3.5, but for ADEA AADSAS, a B+ grade equals a grade weight of 3.33.

Where will I be able to view my GPAs?

Once coursework is verified, please log in to your account and visit the Check Status tab on the homepage of your application to download a PDF of your application and review your GPAs as your programs will see them.

I disagree with my GPA. What do I do?

ADEA AADSAS cannot recalculate entire GPAs for each applicant; however, we are willing to look at specific areas upon request. Please review the ADEA AADSAS GPA Guide for instructions on how ADEA AADSAS calculates GPAs. After reading the instructions and attempting to calculate your own GPA, email us with your name, ID and “Verification Inquiry” in the subject line. Include a specific set of calculations for a certain portion of your GPA which you believe is incorrect and we will review and explain the discrepancy. Please don’t request GPA calculations over the phone.

Does ADEA AADSAS give refunds?

A vital part of the process is that the full instructions are read and the application is reviewed to ensure the necessary steps are taken to complete the application. Once an application is submitted, a refund is typically not granted. In special circumstances, though, refund requests will be reviewed. Applicants must submit a brief, written request within 30 calendar days of the end of the cycle to paynel@adea.org. ADEA reserves the right to grant or deny requests at its own discretion. Any refund granted will be returned to the applicant in the format it was paid. Re-applicants accepted after June 5 to the previous cycle can request a refund; requests must be made within two weeks of the acceptance, which will be verified by ADEA AADSAS staff.

How do I know my application has been submitted?

Go to the Submit Application tab of your application. You may select “Pay for My Programs” to pay for all programs you have selected, or click on “Pay and Submit This Program,” to submit to one program at a time. After selecting “Pay” and completing all steps, you will receive a confirmation email and notification to your application message inbox that your application was submitted.

I have received my final grades for current courses, but transcripts are not yet available. Should I wait to submit the application until ADEA AADSAS receives the updated transcript?
You have two choices in this case:

1. You may list your current courses as completed on your online application, and wait to submit your application until ADEA AADSAS has received the updated transcript, which will cause a delay in your application. Please note that once all materials have been received, it may take four weeks for your application to be verified. ADEA AADSAS recommends that all information arrive at ADEA AADSAS at least four weeks prior to your earliest deadline.
2. You may leave the course listed as in-progress on your ADEA AADSAS application and submit your application. In this case, you would send the transcripts with only the completed courses to ADEA AADSAS and, once the in-progress courses are complete, either update your information during one of the Academic Update periods or send updated transcripts directly to the schools to which you are applying. This would avoid a delay in your application, and this is not an uncommon practice.

When should I submit my application?
Submit your application early—at least four weeks before the first deadline of the schools you are applying to. Applicants who complete their application in the summer are more likely to be successful. Transcripts and letters should also be received early so the application can be fully processed by the school’s deadline.